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Princess Adventures in Evermore

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For my birthday this year, I wanted to go on a fairy tale princess adventure. There's no better place to do that right now than Evermore Park in Utah. While most of the Disney Parks are either closed or under heavy restrictions, Evermore remains open with visually no restrictions. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend visiting at this time if you are immunocompromised. For anyone else looking to escape from the world's problems for a while, it is a wonderful getaway in a secluded area. I learned about Evermore last year from a YouTube review. It was described as a DnD theme park where you become part of the story. I was drawn to it instantly. This weekend, I finally had the opportunity to experience it for myself. It was everything I imagined it would be and more.

As soon as we reached the front gate, we were greeted by several "residents" of Evermore who were ready and willing to answer any questions we had about what we were about to experience. I knew that the …
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Barbie Goes on a Princess Adventure in September!

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After months of speculation about whether the next Barbie movie was undergoing the same virus-related delays as other upcoming princess titles, a new preview went up on YouTube this past Sunday revealing that Barbie Princess Adventure will drop on Netflix on September 1st. The teaser also revealed a first look at some footage from the movie, which is set in the world of Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures and features Barbie and her friends Nikki, Daisy, Renee, and Teresa getting in on all the princess action. It is a rather odd setting for a Princess and the Pauper remake since there aren't that many princesses around today, but I suppose that's where the fantasy elements come into play. What disappointed me the most about the teaser was the complete lack of "new music" they teased in it. However, there have been some leaks of the original soundtrack, which I would describe as poppy and generic.

Barbie Princess Adventure is being promoted as a movie and not a multi-part Dre…
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Review: The Great

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There's one more month before the third season of Find Me in Paris drops on Hulu. While you're waiting, a good alternative for your royal escapist needs is the Hulu original series The Great. This new historical drama follows in the footsteps of the CW's Reign by presenting a vaguely fictionalized account of a real-life female monarch, Catherine the Great. Since it was created exclusively for Hulu, the show contains some mature content that could not have aired on network television and is therefore not appropriate for children. Though some of this content can be mildly disturbing or violent, the series treats itself primarily as a light-hearted comedy, which is something we can all use after the hardships that this year has brought us.

You may want to study up a little on Catherine the Great before streaming this show, but it's not required reading. The Great was created more for the purposes of entertainment than education, so those of us who are not well versed in Ru…
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Review: Tangled The Musical

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There are many things that we are missing out on these days thanks to the extended lockdown order. For instance, Disney's remake of Mulan has been postponed indefinitely from its last August 21st release date. However, there are other things that the virus in Corona has brought to our towers that we may have never been able to experience otherwise. One of the most exciting is the professional recordings of Broadway shows that we can watch from the comfort of our own home. Disney joined in on this excitement earlier in the month when they released a professional recording of Hamilton on their Disney+ streaming service. They intend to follow up this new trend later in the year with a professional recording of their 2014 Aladdin Broadway musical. Three months ago, Disney shared an abridged "virtual viewing" of the Beauty and the Beast musical they produced for their cruise lines. Disney Cruise Line shows are roughly half the length of their Broadway productions but every bi…
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Elena Begins Her Final Journey

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After months of hiatus, Elena of Avalor finally came back today to kick off a steady march toward the series finale on August 23rd. The long periods of time between episodes made it appear as though Elena's arm has been in a cast for nearly six months due to a minor injury that took place in the February episode "Giant Steps." It was a relief to see that cast finally removed at the end of "The Lightning Warrior" today. Our Avaloran princess can now be at her peak physical strength for the final confrontation with the evil sorceress Ash. Despite some scheduling complications, "The Lightning Warrior" was a good pick to bring the show back from its hiatus. It was originally scheduled to air after the Mothers Day episode, "Dia de las Madres," which was delayed due to coronavirus complications. That episode will now air next week, with the rest to follow every consecutive Sunday until the finale.

Elena's arm wasn't the only that healed in …
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Hallmark Princesses

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I've made some posts in this blog about live-action princess movies, but I failed to mention a newer collection of princess-themed films that has grown exponentially within the past decade. Owned by everyone's favorite greeting card company, the Hallmark Channel is famous for fluffy feel-good low-budget films that usually take place around Christmastime. Hallmark has released a dozen or so princess movies over the past decade, most of which are Christmas or winter-themed. The two I have seen are A Princess for Christmas in 2011 and A Winter Princess, which came out in early 2019. Both of these movies were similar in tone and plot to the 2017 Netflix original, A Christmas Prince. Aside from the lack of creativity when it comes to titles, all of these movies are have predictable storylines and are not terribly memorable, but don't worry. If you forget one, there are plenty more to take its place.

A Princess for Christmas stars Katie McGrath, who was in the middle of her succe…
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Review: Walt and Roy

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With all the crazy stuff happening right now, many events that were supposed to happen this year got canceled. One such event was the premiere of a new musical about Walt and Roy Disney that was supposed to open this spring in Los Angeles. Allen and Gray, the two masterminds behind the show, decided not to let a little thing like a pandemic stop them from sharing their vision with the world. They held a virtual Musical Festival this month to showcase four of their shows on YouTube via socially distanced performances and a little digital magic. I purchased a ticket for their show Walt and Roy on Eventbrite and had a front row seat to experience it from home last Thursday. It was an odd way to watch a musical. I found the show pleasant enough, but there were times that the lack of physical interactions between the actors got distracting despite their best efforts.

Walt and Roy takes place from the early 1920s to the 1930s and tells the story of how Walt started the Walt Disney Company wi…
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Find Me in Paris Is the Ultimate Ballerina Princess Escapist Fantasy!

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In 2002, the anime series Princess Tutu combined fairy tales and ballet by introducing a magical girl who was a ballerina princess. In actuality, the main character was neither a ballerina nor a princess but is, in fact, a duck who transforms into one. For some of us, this concept was a bit too out there to wrap our heads around, so I'm grateful that in 2018, the French/German production studio, Cottonwood Media, created a series about an actual ballerina princess called Find Me in Paris. This live-action fantasy drama was recommended by one of my readers and currently has two seasons out on Hulu with a third one on the way. I perused all 52 episodes in three days and am now fully prepared to explain why it is the perfect princess series to binge in your tower.

Find Me in Paris begins with a subtle throwback to Anastasia in which a Russian Princess from the year 1905 named Lena Grisky mysteriously disappears after her boyfriend gives her a magical piece of jewelry. She wakes up in …
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Review: Thorn

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"The Goose Girl" by the Brothers Grimm seems to be one of the hottest fairy tales to adapt right now. It is one of the only fairy tales featuring a princess that has not been turned into a Disney movie. Thorn by Intisar Khanani is the fourth adaptation I've read of this identity-swapping fable, but I can't say that it's one of my favorites. It is the most loyal adaptation I have read, incorporating darker elements that had been graciously removed from other versions, such as the slaughter of the princess's prized horse. Though I appreciate Intisar's attempts to stay true to the tale as well as her incorporation of her culture within the language of the story, the book seems to drag on for ages before anything interesting happens. The climax of Thorn has a big payoff that conveys a strong anti-violence message, which implies that it may have been more enjoyable if it were a little shorter.

For the most part, Thorn is a faithful retelling of "The Goose …
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PattyCake Productions Pays Tribute to ABC's Once Upon a Time!

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It's been two years since we left Storybrooke, and many people still aren't ready to say goodbye. ABC's Once Upon a Time is a bit of an enigma to me. It started out as a clever concept featuring Snow White's estranged daughter, Emma Swan, who grew up in our miserable reality having no idea that she had an epic destiny ahead of her. Over time, the show weened off from its original characters and turned into a blatant marketing ploy for Disney's newest franchises. I guess that's what happens when you put a show about fairy tales on a channel owned by a studio that produces the most well-known theatrical versions of them. Many of us look back at the first season when the show was new and innovative with a nostalgic optimism for what it could have been. This weekend, PattyCake Productions released their take on this iconic series with a new music video called "Once Upon a Time: The Musical".

From what I have seen, PattyCake Productions makes two kinds of m…
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Review: The Cursed Hunter

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Back in April, I was introduced to the enchanting world of Bethany Atazadeh's Stolen Kingdom series. The first two books, The Stolen Kingdom and The Jinni Key, told the story of two princesses and their struggles to find love and save a kingdom. I eagerly awaited The Cursed Hunter, the third book in the series, in the hopes that it would continue the story and expand the world. When I finally got the opportunity to read it, it felt like it was from a completely different series that lacked the robust setting that was teased in the first two books. This book contains a simple story that feels dry and empty despite taking place in the same world. The expansive lore of Jinnis and Meremaids is replaced by a tale of a lone woman on a boring quest. I wish I could say this book was just as engaging and emotionally provocative as the first two, but I'm afraid The Cursed Hunter is a different beast entirely. Bethany Atazadeh is clearly a talented author, so I'm not sure what happen…
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Will We Ever See These Princess Movies?

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The virus in Corona has drastically changed life as we know it. One of the industries that got hit the hardest by this pandemic was the entertainment industry. Back in April, Disney announced that their upcoming live-action adaptation of Mulan would be delayed until July 24th. Now, it has been delayed again to August 21st. How much faith can we place in this new release date after so much disappointment? Theatrical delays are at least understandable due to the difficulty of social distancing in a crowded theater. Not every princess movie in the works was set for a theatrical release, though. I was hoping that Disney would at least stick to their July 17th release date for Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, since that was going to be uploaded to their Disney+ streaming service to watch from home. Yet, it seems that even superheroes lack the powers to maintain their release as this action-packed fairy tale has been pushed back to September 25th.


Disney isn't the only studio to de…
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Review: Spindle

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Spindle is the third book I've read from Kimberly A. Rogers' Love's Enchanted Tales series. It felt appropriate to read a book from the middle of the series after completing the second to last book, Dragon's Maid, and the first book, Selkie's Song. Spindle is about on par with the sweet love story from Dragon's Maid and is a vast improvement over the faux Disney-mocking from Selkie's Song, though it did contain some welcome cameos of Naia and Malik. This book stood out among the ten in the series because "Sleeping Beauty" is such a versatile story to adapt. The fairy tale is so simple that every novelization is unique in how it chooses to expand upon the details. This version follows the protagonist's journey after she wakes up to learn that a century has passed and her kingdom is in turmoil. It has everything you would expect from a contemporary retelling of "Sleeping Beauty."

Spindle is the story of Celena, the cousin of King Eric f…
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